What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 30th May 2019.

And so the 72nd Cannes Film Festival drew to a close on Saturday 25th May, and as reported in this weekly update over the last couple of weeks there were twenty-one films in main competition for the prestigious Palme d'Or award and eighteen in the running in the Un Certain Regard section with eleven films competing for the Camera d'Or prize.

The final winners and grinners of these acclaimed awards and a few others too, are as given below :-

In Competition :
* Palme d'Or : 'Parasite' by Bong Joon-ho
* Grand Prix : 'Atlantics' by Mati Diop
* Jury Prize : 'Bacurau' by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, and, 'Les Misérables' by Ladj Ly
* Best Director : Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for 'Young Ahmed'
* Best Actress : Emily Beecham for 'Little Joe'
* Best Actor : Antonio Banderas for 'Pain and Glory'
* Best Screenplay : Céline Sciamma for 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire'
* Special Mention : Elia Suleiman for 'It Must Be Heaven'.

Un Certain Regard :
* Un Certain Regard Award : 'The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmão' by Karim Ainouz
* Un Certain Regard Jury Prize : 'Fire Will Come' by Oliver Laxe
* Un Certain Regard Award for Best Director : Kantemir Balagov for 'Beanpole'
* Un Certain Regard Jury Award for Best Performance : Chiara Mastroianni for 'On a Magical Night'
* Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize : Albert Serra for 'Liberté' and Bruno Dumont for 'Joan of Arc'
* Coup de Cœur Award : 'A Brother's Love' by Monia Chokri and 'The Climb' by Michael Angelo Covino.

Golden Camera :

* Camera d'Or : 'Our Mothers' by Cesar Diaz.

FIPRESCI Prizes :

* In Competition : 'It Must Be Heaven' by Elia Suleiman
* Un Certain Regard : 'Beanpole' by Kantemir Balagov
* Parallel section : 'The Lighthouse' by Robert Eggers. 

You can get all the latest news and views and the complete list of happy and celebrated awards winners by visiting the official website at : https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/

With just three latest release movies coming to your local Odeon in the week ahead, we kick off with this biopic of a flamboyant music legend whose stellar, albeit at times tumultuous, career spans six decades and he's still going strong today. We then move to a monster mash up in this Hollywood version of a Japanese monster icon, that sees our giant lizard face off against three menacing mythical foes that between them threaten all of humanity in the process. Closing out the week we see a French family friendly animated feature about a much loved medieval fellow and his sidekick on the quest to find a young druid and the secrets of a magic potion.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'ROCKETMAN' (Rated MA15+) - here this biographical musical film based on the life and times of Sir Elton John (aka Reginald Kenneth Dwight) is Directed by Dexter Fletcher, whose previous film making credits include 'Wild Bill' in 2011, 'Sunshine on Leith' in 2013, 'Eddie the Eagle' in 2016, and an uncredited role as Director on last years 'Bohemian Rhapsody' having replaced Bryan Singer as Director for the final two weeks of filming, but received an Executive Producer credit due to Directors Guild of America rules. An Elton John biopic had been in development for almost two decades, with the project going through several Directors, studios and Actors before Sir Elton finally approached Paramount Pictures. In early 2018 Taron Egerton was cast to play Elton John having previously appeared with Sir Elton in the 2017 film 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle', and Egerton, as Johnny the Gorilla, sang John's song 'I'm Still Standing' in the animated film 'Sing'. The film cost US$41M to bring to the big screen, saw its Premier screening at the Cannes Film Festival on 16th May this year, was released in the UK last week on 22nd May and is released in the US and here in Australia this week.

The film follows Elton John's (Taron Egerton) early days as a prodigy at London's Royal Academy of Music through his influential and enduring musical partnership with Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell), as well as his struggles with depression, substance abuse, and acceptance of his sexual orientation. Also starring Richard Madden as John Reid (Sir Elton's first manager from 1970 through until 1998, and lover for those first five years, during which time Reid also managed 'Queen' from 1975 until 1978), Bryce Dallas Howard, Stephen Graham and Gemma Jones. The film has so far generated largely positive Reviews. The film is titled after Sir Elton's 1972 UK #2 and US #6 hit single of the same name.

'GODZILLA II : KING OF THE MONSTERS' (Rated M) - this American monster fest is a sequel to 2014's 'Godzilla' that was Directed by Gareth Edwards at a cost of US$160M raking in a respectable US$530M at the global Box Office. This time around Directing duties fall to Michael Dougherty who also Co-Wrote the script in this the 35th film in the Godzilla franchise, the third film in Legendary's MonsterVerse, and the third Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. This film costs US$200M, and the premise of this instalment is described as the crypto-zoological agency Monarch and its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra (a giant moth), Rodan (a pre-historic Pteranodon), and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah (an armless, bipedal, golden-scaled, bat-winged dragon with three heads and two tails). When these ancient super-species, believed to be the stuff of mythological legend, rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity's very existence hanging in the balance. Starring an ensemble cast list that includes Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, O'Shea Jackson Jnr., Ken Watanabe and David Strathairn. A sequel, 'Godzilla vs. Kong', is scheduled to be released on March 13th 2020, and has already wrapped filming and is now in Post-Production, and is Directed by Adam Wingard.

'ASTERIX : THE SECRET OF THE MAGIC POTION' (Rated PG) - here we have a French computer animated family friendly adventure comedy film Directed by Alexandre Astier and Louis Clichy and based on the French Asterix comic books that date back to 1959. The film was released in France in early December 2018 and with the film's English dub release in Australia from this week onwards. In this tale, Asterix (voiced by Christian Clavier) and Obelix (by Guillaume Briat) embark on a quest across Gaul looking for a young druid worthy of learning the secret of the magic potion, after elderly village druid Panoramix (Bernard Alane) breaks his leg when he falls from a tree while picking mistletoe. Once Asterix and Obelix begin their quest, all hell breaks lose at home as the Romans start attacking. Meanwhile, an evil wizard named Sulfurix (Daniel Mesguich) does everything he can to steal the potion's secret recipe. The film has so far taken US$38M at the Box Office.

With three new release movies this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-